Bertrand Russell

"The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not absurdly wrong."

"Many people would sooner die than think. In fact, they do so."

"No one gossips about other people's secret virtues."

"There is no need to struggle by blindly; by the help of reason we may direct our efforts."

"Every form of authority not reasonably tested collapses."

"If you desire something and it does not come, it means that you do not desire it enough or you desire something else more."

"The human animal differs from the lesser primates in his passion for lists of 'Ten Best'."

"It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that prevents us from living freely and nobly."

"The capacity for friendship is a measure of the depth of one's nature."

"The most valuable things in life are not measured in monetary terms; they are measured in smiles, laughter, and love."

"A stupid man's report of what a clever man says can never be accurate, because he unconsciously translates what he hears into something he can understand."

"If all the experts were laid end to end, they would not reach a conclusion."

"The art of living well and the art of dying well are one."

"It is a mark of a civilized person to eat with a fork; it is a mark of a wise person to wonder why."

"Knowledge is power, but enthusiasm pulls the switch."

"To understand the actual world as it is, we must abstract from it; that is we must consider some aspects of it at a time."

"The belief that you can successfully practice what you are not willing to learn is fundamentally mistaken."

"If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, it does not make a sound; it makes air vibrations."

"Almost everything that we do is not essential to our happiness or even to our survival."

"The world is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper."

"Every man, wherever he goes, is encompassed by a cloud of comforting convictions."

"The merit of a work lies not in its difficulty but in the skill with which it is executed."

"A habit cannot be tossed out the window; it must be coaxed down the stairs one step at a time."

"It would be a useful thing to have exact knowledge regarding the way in which any piece of knowledge is acquired."

"Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth—more than ruin, more than death."

"Mystics always hope that science will some day overtake them. But alas, each time science catches up, mysticism moves on."

"In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer."

"The secret to happiness is this: let your interests be as wide as possible."

"The demand for certainty is characteristic of authoritarian systems."

"The source of all knowledge is observation, but observation without thought is useless."